


Nine-tenths of Happiness

by Greyneurosis (Spylace)



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Chuck Lives, Chuck has bad taste in movies, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, F/M, Gen, M/M, Raleigh has commitment issues, in the end anyway, this fic is like a bad movie in itself
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-15
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-15 20:28:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1318117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spylace/pseuds/Greyneurosis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raleigh’s been having a one-night stand with the same person for the past seven months.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nine-tenths of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> Fill for this prompt: http://pacificrimkink.livejournal.com/2747.html?thread=3732155#t3732155 which asked for a Raleigh with commitment issues and a patient Chuck. 
> 
> I tried.

"You going already?" Said a drowsy voice.

Raleigh looked up, startled from where he’d been gathering clothes in the dark.

Guiltily, he realized that his bedmate was awake, sleepiness evaporating from the cat-like green eyes as Chuck sat up and drank in the sight of him naked and bent over at the foot of the bed. Normally, the lone dimple and general shirtlessness would have had him tackling the younger man into bed. But he couldn’t stay here, in this room, in this apartment with Chuck. He felt stifled. This had to end.

“Have to go in early today.” He said, the excuse somehow sounding lamer inside his head. “I’ll call you later.”

The promise slipped out unbidden, surprising himself most of all.

Reassured, Chuck hummed “Better. Dinner?”

“Yeah, dinner.” Raleigh tucked him in, grinning irrepressibly at the kiss Chuck ninjaed against his cheeks. “Sweet dreams.”

 

Outside, he felt no better.

Raleigh was twenty-eight with the big 3-0 looming on the horizon. He worked at a construction company making decent wages, he had friends, went to parties, he sometimes did boys and sometimes he did girls but not committed relationships.

He’d also been trying to break up with Chuck Hansen for the better part of the last seven months.

“Could have fooled me. This is what, your kazillionth one-night stand with this kid?”

Raleigh scowled at his brother’s less than sympathetic ear.

“Don’t you have work to do? Like national security kind of stuff?”

“You’ve been watching too much TV.” Yancy deflected, slurping coffee—he prayed to god it was just coffee—on the other end.

His brother had been recruited by the company just out of college. Paper-pushing sounded much more glamorous with the alphabets FBI preceding it. It also meant that in addition to dental and access people’s less than proud moments, Yancy was free to pester him all morning. “I know the Divorce traumatized you for life but would it be so bad to stay with him?”

Yancy was serious then. He’d pulled out the d-word as in with capital D. The single source of all his shame and fear in committing to just one person for the rest of his life.

“He’s just a kid you know.” Raleigh said awkwardly, feeling the need to explain himself but having no idea how to do it without Yancy’s judgmental judging. He missed the days when he could slam the phone. Clicking end call button just wasn’t enough. “Only twenty-one but crazy smart. He’s already got a degree in civil engineering but thinking of grad school. Something about environmental sciences. He did work for Greenpeace and I guess he liked it.”

“What’s a guy like that doing with you?”

“I ask myself this every night.”

 

“So why couldn’t you break up with boy wonder this time Romeo?”

“It was Valentine’s Day.” He said defensively, his accounting ignored for a chance of salacious gossip. “Who breaks up on Valentine’s Day?”

“Last year, Jennifer the receptionist.” Tendo pointed out.

“The year before” Hu countered. Raleigh only knew his name because his ID was clipped to his chest and even then he wasn’t sure because Hu and his twin Cheung had gotten in the habit of exchanging them for shits and giggles. There were rumors that a third Wei brother was somewhere in the building and Raleigh shuddered to think of all three on the same floor. “Bill the IT guy.”

“I thought Mako was going to murder you.” Cheung said cheerily, high-fiving his twin.

Raleigh once made the mistake of asking how Mako told them apart to which Mako archly replied “What makes you think I try?”

Until that moment, he hadn’t known that the Japanese woman was capable of innuendo. Respect.

Hu started counting off. “So last week you couldn’t quit him because you were a pussy. This week because you’re fucking him, next week because of dinner plans...”

Chuck had the midterms coming up and after that they’d promised to go watch a movie. Some chick flick about a jilted woman claiming revenge on her boyfriend which alone should have been the grounds for termination but was strangely endearing to see.

“Maybe you should stay with him.” Mako suggested.

“I don’t do relationships.” He said automatically.

“See,” Cheung pointed out. “But I don’t think you understand the meaning of one-night stands—Choi’s had shorter relationships.”

“ _Hey_ ”

“All I’m saying is.” Cheung summed up. “Maybe he’s the _One_.”

 

Raleigh had dinner ready by the time Chuck got home.

That is to say, he ordered takeout and arranged it in a way they both had an equal chance at mu shu pork.

Chuck gave him an appreciative kiss on the lips as he stormed in like a miniature hurricane, shedding pieces of sticky notes and paper before he dumped his burden on the couch.

“My professor is a cunt.” He whined, wrapping his arms around Raleigh’s middle.

Raleigh rolled his eyes.

“Hello to you too. How was your day? Mine? It was great. Thanks for asking.”

“You’re welcome sweetheart.” Chuck replied, sucking a hickie into his neck.

“Jesus Christ Chuck!” Raleigh yelped. The Aussie oofed when an elbow caught him in the stomach. “People are going to see that!”

“That’s the point.” Chuck said, implying that he was the one who was somehow deficient. Nuzzling his throat in apology, the younger man shoved his hand down his pants and squeezed. Raleigh melted boneless against the sink. Chuck smirked. “You’re so easy.”

“Nnnngh, and you’re too good at that.”

There was a reason why Raleigh couldn’t give him up after all.

“How about we do dessert first?”

Raleigh pretended to consider.

“I don’t know. I was planning on doing your mom—“

Chuck pounced.

 

“So my old man wants to visit.”

Raleigh knew this. He knew this because he couldn’t not know Chuck was talking to his father from all the yelling and screaming and hair-pulling that could be heard from three states away. But always, those tumultuous conversations ended with grudging _I love you_ s Raleigh didn’t want to read too much into. But Chuck was too perceptive not to notice. He had explained it was a habit started when he was a teenager, resentful that his father was never around. Angela, his mother, had forced him to end each call with an _I love you_ no matter what he was feeling at the moment. Raleigh thought it wouldn’t have helped him and his dad any even if the bastard came crawling back from whatever backwoods ditch he fell into.

“Want me to clear out for a few days or...”

From what he remembered, Chuck’s father was a marine. Didn’t get to see his family very often. Doted on his only son. Reportedly knew a thousand and one different ways to kill a man with his bare hands.

“I want you to meet him.”

Raleigh froze.

He said slowly, “That’s a terrible idea.”

But Chuck went on as though he hadn’t heard.

“I think it’s time don’t you?” there was a stubborn set to his jaws that meant that the Aussie wasn’t about to simply give up on the idea. “Anyway, he’s been wanting to meet you and I can’t hold him off forever.”

Raleigh rolled over and got up. Chuck didn’t try to follow him.

“It’s too soon. Why can’t it stay like this?” He burst out.

“Because I _want_ more.”

There were a multitude of comebacks on his tongue, stored just for this reason. God knew he’d had his share of ugly breakups, crying, broken objects and on one memorable occasion—punctured tires. But somehow, he couldn’t do it to Chuck. He looked at the kitchen table, at the cold Chinese food Chuck liked best reheated and the mu shu pork they fought over just because they could. It was all perfectly domestic, too good to be true. He wanted to stay like this forever and knew he couldn’t.

“I can’t.”

 

Everyone knew he’d gone through with it the moment he stepped into the building. The security gave him less hassle, mails were retrieved with the barest of greetings. His coworkers turned their wide eyes at him as he made coffee, dumped a shitload of sugar in before realizing what he’d done and pretended he meant to do it all along.

He glared.

“What are you looking at?”

A steady stream of sympathizers formed a queue around his desk with offerings like supplicants to a god. As though he was the wronged party, the virgin who’d been dumped after the opening games, they fed him encouragements and offered up smartphones and facebook contacts on a silver plate. It was like the entire building gave a collective sigh of relief—the office playboy was back, everyone get in line for the Becket treatment.

He ended up locking himself in the storage room during lunch.

“Man, you have it bad.” Tendo said pragmatically, handing him a sandwich through the closed door.

Raleigh wolfed it down. Tendo gave him another. He ate that too.

When he reached for the third, he realized that it was a phone.

“It’s your brother.” Tendo paused. “He’s been trying to reach you.”

Staring at the seething phone, Raleigh winced.

 

“ARE YOU NUTS?!”

Yancy did not give him time to explain.

“I RAISED YOU TO BE BETTER THAN THIS!”

He would have thought it unfair that his own flesh and blood was taking the side of a complete stranger if he did not agree. Completely.

“Your boyfriend is not our father. He’s not our mom, he’s not even me! I know Raleigh, I know. I know that you were possibly dropped on your head as a _kid_ and that the most permanent relationship you’ve ever had was with your right hand. But this kid Chuck? He’s the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Are you really going to throw it all away?!”

“He deserves better.” Raleigh muttered, hoping that Tendo and Mako had crowd control in hand.

“Well guess what moron.” Yancy said sarcastically that was not in any way undeserved. “It’s your lucky day. He wants your deadbeat ass instead.”

 

Raleigh rehearsed everything inside his head. He would grovel first then grovel more. But before he could ring the doorbell, someone beat him to it by opening the front gates. A girl stood in the doorway, tall, athletic with skin the color of hazelnut cream. At once Raleigh thought he’d made a mistake, that he’d come to the wrong apartment. Chuck had never strayed since they’d started their fucked up one-sided relationship together. He couldn’t help but wonder if he had been replaced.

“So you’re the other woman.”

“And you are...?”

The girl held out her hand.

“Vanessa Ray, Chuck’s minder.”

“Uh, hiiiii…” He tried to look past her into the apartment. “Any chance I can, actually uh, see Chuck?”

“He’s sick.” She growled.

His heart thudded.

“Why? What’s wrong with him?”

Vanessa took time to think.

“You see, there was this guy, some goddamned asshole.” She tapped her chin consideringly. “See, I don’t blame him for being scared. Chuck can be scary-intense. But instead of putting on his big boy pants and explaining that he wasn’t ready, he broke his heart and left him.”

“I think” said a voice from behind her. “He got the point.”

She whirled around.

“You’re supposed to be asleep Hansen.”

Chuck looked like an architect major a day from finals when all the sleep they were getting was in between gluing shit together and watching it dry. He was pale, hair limp, the five o’ clock shadow looking like a rash across his throat.

“Hard to” He grumped, grinding the last of sleep from his eyes. “When you’re channeling the goddamned Spanish Inquisition.”

“Just looking out for your best interests.” She chirped.

Chuck appeared unconvinced.

“What are you doing here Raleigh?”

Fidgeting, he answered “I can explain.”

 

Vanessa left them alone.

“Sick of watching you mope anyway.”

Taking in the closed blinds, the pile of unwashed laundry Raleigh joked “I’m gone a week and this place falls apart.”

Chuck didn’t so much as crack a smile.

“Ok, so I fucked up.”

Raleigh sighed, leaned back and told him about the D-word. Chuck listened politely, attentively for a man who’d been dumped for no reason. Raleigh had no idea how to erase the weariness from his eyes or if he was even allowed to now that their relationship had come to an end.

He wanted Chuck to understand there wasn’t anything wrong with him. Sure, Chuck had fits of temper, he was young, immature, stubborn, dead-set on what he wanted and woe to whoever stood in his way. Even Raleigh. And although between the commitment issues and abandonment issues Raleigh had never been so far out of his comfort zone, if there was one person Raleigh would have tied himself to willingly, romantically, permanently, it would be Chuck.

“Huh” was what Chuck had to offer.

“That’s it?” Raleigh asked annoyed. “I pour my heart and soul out to you and that’s all I get?”

This earned him a light crease in the eyes, the faintest hint of dimple across both cheeks.

“I didn’t know.” Chuck coughed, swaddled in blankets. He continued reproachfully “You should have told me.”

“Kind of heavy for the first date.” Raleigh quipped.

“You left an impression on me.”

Raleigh blinked at the non sequitur. Chuck plowed on. “Remember when we first met.”

“Yeah, you told me to take my head out of my ass and look where I was driving.”

“Then you offered me a ride.”

“You said yes.” Raleigh countered. “Though you did call me a creepy pedo—you kiss your mother with that mouth?”

“No, I kiss yours.” The younger man fired back.

He’d always suspected it, but it was still horrifying to have it confirmed.

“Wait, was that your idea of flirting?!”

Chuck stubbornly looked away.

“My mum met dad when she was here on a study. She was having a session at a bar one night and as soon as she saw him, she knew he was the one. I wanted that. I want that with you.”

Discomfited, Raleigh said “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to mate.” Chuck shrugged depreciatingly, reaching for the mug on the coffee table. “Just wanted you to know.”

 

“Here” Mako said a few days later, presenting him with tickets to a movie. He felt his insides squeeze at the title—it was the movie Chuck wanted to watch. Bravely, he mustered a grin.

“You slut.” He said in scandalized glee. “What will Hu think?”

Mako rolled her eyes.

“I do not want to see this movie.”

“Then what’s all this for?”

She answered patiently “you mentioned Chuck wanted to see it.”

Raleigh came to an understanding.

“This is for Bill the IT guy isn’t it?” He asked plaintively. “I already told you, I’m _sorry_. I didn’t know he was that sensitive.”

Tendo confiscated his phone while Cheung and Hu grabbed him from behind.

“Consider this an intervention.”

 

Raleigh was convinced Tendo’s hairspray was magic. His head was now in the running for the world’s hardest object known to man.

“What the fuck happened to you?”

In contrast, Chuck looked wonderful. His face hidden under a layer of scarves. He recalled that he lent it to him generously and had never gotten it back. It was tied in a stubborn knot around the front, as though Chuck was afraid a stiff wind would blow it off.

“Hey, I didn’t think you’d come.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Chuck groused. “Have to make up the midterms anyway so why not go all the way?” He grimaced. “Sorry, I promised, sorry.”

“No” Raleigh said. “You shouldn’t be.”

Raleigh slung an arm around his side, sharing his body warmth. Chuck squeezed his eyes shut and let out a full-bodied shudder, obviously not fully recovered from his most recent bout with the cold.

“Can we go in?” He asked miserably. “Colder than a polar bear’s cock out here.”

“It’s March.” Raleigh reminded him, delighted.

Chuck sneezed in response.

“I’m an idiot.” Raleigh started, handing Chuck his ticket to a movie that had already been decried as utter shit on every respectable media outlet—he was a terrible boyfriend. But Chuck looked at the ticket in surprise, back at Raleigh, and back at the ticket as though something wonderful was happening right in front of him. “I can’t cook.” He confessed. “I’m allergic to dogs, I can’t sing but I sing in the showers anyway and I hog the blankets at night just so you’d cuddle up to me.”

“I knew it.” Chuck snarled.

“I have problems, major problems, you have no idea, but I want to try this commitment thing. I want to try it with you.”

The younger man was quiet as they went inside the theater, got the prerequisite popcorn, Gatorade, nachos and sat down in their seats. The previews played and Raleigh didn’t feel as confident anymore when he felt Chuck’s ice-cold fingers creep hesitantly across the back of his neck and settle.

“You are an idiot Ray.” Chuck said quietly. “But you’re my idiot now.”

Raleigh took Chuck’s hand, warming it with his own.

“I can work with that.”


End file.
